The following details were supplied to me by my uncle Norman Hope and published on site back on 26/06/2006.
Christopher Brewis - At one time he had a general dealer’s shop opposite the post office in Temperance Terrace.
Fred Hume - He was an all rounder and good fielder [often at mid on].He was a right hand batsmen and capable of keeping an end up. He was a medium paced right hand bowler.He married Ada Bainbridge [from New Brancepeth].His son, Fred, was a good player for Durham Wasps [ice hockey] and enjoyed a long career with them.
Sid Mawson -Regular first team player.
George Graham - Usually fielded in the slips and had hands like shovels.In one particular match he hit a Durham City bowler [who had been a pro for York] all over the field.He was also a good amateur footballer.The lad on his immediate right as we look at the well known photograph published on site was named as Michael. He lived in Deerness View. He was an all rounder and was also a good singer in Working Men’s Clubs.
Jimmy Abberley - Six feet tall batsman.He was a fitter at Esh Winning Colliery.He lived about 4 or 5 doors from Ushaw Moor post office.
Alfie Gillespie - A cobbler by trade and a very accomplished right hand batsman. He scored lots of 50s and therefore benefited from numerous collections.He kept his shots on the ground[Bradman style!]. When running between the wickets Dickie Hope was sometimes 22 yards behind.
Gilbert Ayre - He was Raymond Ayre’s uncle. All the cricketers from this family were good batsmen.
Jack Graham - He sometimes umpired [but not matches involving Ushaw Moor]. His wife did the teas with Ethel Hope.
George Gillespie - Harry’s father. Dickie Hope thought that he was not at all a bad player.He was a foreman joiner at Waterhouses Collery.
Billy Quinn - Ex Army Captain and a very fast bowler.At one time he was a school teacher at Ushaw Moor Roman Catholic School.When he went to live in Esh Winning he decided to play for them because he felt he should play for the village in which he lived.He had many offers to play for more fashionable teams.He more than once broke the bails and stumps because of his sheer pace. Dickie Hope broke his own finger when playing wicket keeper to a Billy Quinn delivery.As well as pace he had movement [therefore very difficult to play against].He bowled to the height of the stumps and did not deliver high pitched balls.He never bowled full pace if opposed by a young number 11 batsman.He was not a bad batsman although a bit inconsistent.
Serdi Last - Spin bowler who had come from Mainsforth Cricket Club.Could bowl leg break and off break.
Harry Gillespie - Transport Manager at a laundry.A batsman who scored quite a few 50s.
Alfie Smith - Came to the club with Serdi Last.He was a good batsman and was also a slow left hand spin bowler.He played at Ushaw Moor for three or four years.
Teddy Sinclair - Winding Engineman at Ushaw Moor Colliery.He was a bowler.He wore a red hanky in his pocket and a red tie for a belt when he played.
Richard Wallace Hope - Wicket keeper and opening batsman. Very much a sheet anchor.Sometimes captain. He himself sometimes wondered whether he would be able to hit the ball off the square. He did make several useful scores each season and therefore it can be said that he under estimated himself.Sometime secretary of the club.
‘Bell from Broompark’ - Sometimes deputised as wicket keeper.
Tommy Buxton - A teacher at Brandon.
The two youngsters flanking the bottom row in the well known photograph are left hand side Harry Gillespie’s son and right hand side- last person- Billy Quinn’s son.
WB
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Wilf,
ReplyDeleteNow back in the land of the living, I have been away. Excellent article. Chris Brewis' shop was the bottom house in Ushaw Terrace. It was a general dealers shop and Chris was always behind the counter. Alf Gillespie lived in High View and had a green shed in his backyard and this was his workshop. I can well remember Billy Quinn playing for Ushaw Moor. He moved to Esh Winning after he married an Esh Winning lass named Katie Brennan and he was Headmaster at Newhouse RC School. He was a powerfully built man and a cricket ball appeared tiny in his hand and he was great with the bat also. I think Harry Gillespie worked at the Co-op laundry at Nevilles Cross behind the Co-op Store. Did Alfie Smiths mother own a shop In Durham Road? I watched all these players play when I was a lad and summer Saturday afternoons were always red hot and a quick run up home for some tea and then back down for the second batting session. I have seen the photos in the Cricket Club and memories flooded back. Happ Days. Villages had far more to offer than they have in todays world. I loved the old wooden pavillion that stood next to the tennis courts. They were pretty sparse as I found out when I used the dressing rooms when I played school football. Keep them coming Wilf.
One vivid memory I have of Alf Gillespie does not concern sport but his work as a cobbler. My Dad died when I was nine years old and my Mother (God Bless her) had a hell of a job fetching five of us up on a widows pension. Boots were the order of the day when I was a lad and I can remember turning up at Alfs workshop one freezing snowy Saturday morning with a big hole in the sole of my right boot. Alf sat me down near his heater and repaired the boot and mended the left boot also and only charged for one boot. The boots were the only footwear I had at the time. Brian Mc.